Various legacy type devices/equipment/appliances, for example, automobiles, digital cameras, and other type of devices (jointly referred to herein as “appliances” or “appliance” throughout this specification) are commonly used for personal and business purposes. Some of these appliances have a built in computing system (including a processor, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and others) that control appliance operation and collect appliance related information, including error codes, operating environment parameters and other information. The computer code (or firmware) for the appliance often needs to be upgraded/changed. Additionally, access to diagnostic information on the appliance may be required in order to perform diagnostics, maintenance or troubleshooting operations.
Conventional processes to repair/inspect/diagnose/troubleshoot appliances are cumbersome and tedious. The consumer often has to make an appointment with a repair shop/dealer to get the appliance diagnosed. The appliance is then taken to a repair depot or a technician comes to the appliance to diagnose a problem or for routine maintenance. Once the problem is diagnosed (or the appliance inspected, used interchangeably throughout this specification), repair parts are ordered and then the appliance is repaired/serviced. This process is labor intensive and can cause delays in ordering parts/maintaining these appliances.
Conventional processes to upgrade the firmware of these appliances are also inefficient. Often one has to take these appliances to authorized dealerships/repair depots to upgrade appliance firmware/software (or a technician has to visit the appliance and upgrade the firmware/software).
Therefore, there is a need for a method and system to manage these appliances efficiently.